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A WEDDING OF NEW PERSPECTIVES
AND RESEARCH IN THE INLAND
WEST-SOMETHING OLD,
SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BLUE
Wyman C. Schmidt
Clinton E. Carlson
James W. Byler
ABSTRACT
These are big questions in this analogy, and this paper
aims at presenting some old, new, and blue perspectives
of this marriage.
A wedding is the analogy used to describe some of the
processes that should be considered in matching research
objectives with New Perspectives concepts. The status of
planning aimed at implementing this "marriage" is described in terms of the "old," "new," and "blue." Researchers need to examine old data in a new light and blend in
the more recent, new, and sophisticated data into meaningful pachages that will help implement New Perspectives.
Research and management are cautioned about the "blue"
aspects-insect and disease problems that can be associated with various silvicultural objectives under New Perspectives. Some of the Intermountain Research Station's
New Perspectives planning is described.
SOMETHING OLD
Research has had a long history of something "old" in
the Inland West at places such as Priest River Experimental Forest and Deception Creek Experimental Forest
in Idaho with long-term records from early in this century, from Coram Experimental Forest in Montana and
Boise Basin in Idaho with research starting in the 1940's,
from Great Basin Experimental Range in Utah, and from
areas that have long-term data and photo files, such as
those for Lick Creek in Montana started early this century. Add to this list a number of experimental forest and
research areas that are a part of the universities of Idaho,
Montana, and Utah.
Most of the early studies dealt with growth and yield of
natural forests (Cummings 1937; Meyers 1938) and many
attempted to determine the regeneration requirements of
the commercial timber species (Larsen 1924; Haig 1936).
This early pioneering research paved the way for the
second-generation studies in the middle of this century
(Roe 1951; Boe 1953; Stone and Schubert 1959). In some
cases these second-generation studies relied heavily on
the long-term data bases from the earlier studies that had
been maintained. But many of these second-generation
studies had to start from nearly ground zero because
there were no previous data. They also relied heavily
on information from other areas on this continent such
as the North Central and Pacific Northwest areas, and
from Europe. Most of these early studies were purely tree
oriented with little accompanying information about the
associated flora, fauna, and physical phenomena.
Where data were absent, old photo records proved useful in interpreting successional processes in some forest
types. For example, photo records at Lick Creek in the
Bitterroot National Forest proved extremely useful in
evaluating succession following different management
activities over a period of 80 years (Gruell and others
1982). Gruell has also located a large number of old photo
points from other areas in the West and has retaken them
after nearly a century of change. These all help in interpreting gradual long-term changes and their ecological
implications.
INTRODUCTION
A wedding is a bonding of two individuals to reach a
common objective. Weddings are preceded by courtships,
some long and some short, in which both partners attempt
to determine if they really want to enter this relationship.
Courtships often show that a marriage would be beneficial
to both, and the couple lives happily ever after. Some
courtships point out incompatibilities and the marriage
never occurs. In others, the wedding takes place and the
incompatibilities appear later. Some marriages are conceived in haste and some are arranged by the parents, usually with mixed long-term results. Regardless of the incentive, all marriages bring something "old," something "new,"
and something "blue" from both partners. It's these "somethings" that can enhance or detract from that marriage.
We see an analogy of these various marriage scenarios
with the relationship of Research and New Perspectives
as they enter their significant marriage of the 1990's.
Will they be able to agree on common objectives? Will
they be able to assemble enough resources to make it solvent? Will the old, new, and blue contribute to or detract
from this marriage? What kind of offspring can be expected from this union?
Paper presented at the National Silviculture Workshop, Cedar City,
UT, May 6-9, 1991.
Wyman C. Schmidt is Project Leader and Research Silviculturist and
Clinton E. Carlson is Research Forester, Intermountain Research Station,
Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; James W. Byler, is Supervisory Pathologist, Northern Region, Forest Service, Missoula, MT.
14
SOMETHING NEW
new objectives, and other factors have begun to shape the
direction of management and research in the 1990's.
Something "new" came on the scene when multiple use
became a part of the management philosophy and emphases in research gradually shifted toward determining how
different management activities affected the broader
range of forest resources (Shearer 1971; Myers 1974).
Not that trees were suddenly ignored-they were still the
driving force that shaped the character of the forests-but
other values of wildlife habitat, water, esthetics, recreation, and other forest uses, such as forest range, began
to be evaluated in research programs. Unfortunately,
many of the early studies were conducted independently
and were not completed in recognized and repeatable silvicultural systems.
Later, however, multiple resource values were evaluated within the framework of conventionally accepted silvicultural practices that had been matched as closely as
possible to the known ecological requirements of the particular forest type. Because of the increasingly better understood role of the physics and ecological effects of fire
and other physical and biological factors in the Inland
West, most of the silvicultural practices were some form
of even-aged management. Even-aged management included clearcutting, shelterwood, and seed tree methods,
but tended to concentrate more on clearcutting, in some
cases approaching the characteristics of tree farms.
Not only were the effects of treatments on the various
resources evaluated during this "new" research period,
but basic information about nutrient capitals, insect!
disease/animallhost forest relationships, associated vegetation, woody residue relationships, and other data were
developed in the last two decades (USDA Forest Service
1980; Baumgartner and others 1985; Baumgartner and
Lotan 1988; Schmidt 1988; Schmidt and McDonald 1990).
Uneven-aged management methods remain largely untested in the Inland West except on Bureau of Indian Mfairs land, but some research efforts, such as those at the
University of Montana's Lubrecht Experimental Forest,
are currently under way. These methods had gotten a
bad reputation because most people associated them with
the "logger's choice" type of partial cutting. Uneven-aged
management was felt to be incompatible with the basic
ecology of most of the fire-origin forests in the Inland
West and not suitable for meeting management objectives. Consequently, uneven-aged management saw little
research emphasis for many years because the demand
for that information was not there.
But that has changed, largely because many of the biologically and economically acceptable forest practices,
such as straight rows of trees and square clearcuts, were
found to be socially unacceptable. People did not like
what they saw happening in their forests. And as Abe
Lincoln once said, "Public opinion may not always be
right, but it will always prevail." It was more than just
public opinion, however, that swayed the direction offorest management and research. Concerns about biological
diversity, rare and endangered species, long-term productivity and sustainability, integration of the whole biological and physical sphere, collaboration of a broad base of
scientists, managers, educators, and the public in setting
SOMETHING BLUE
Our best lessons for the future usually lie in examining
our past successes and failures. In light of what we are
learning, we see the possibility of something ''blue" that
may accompany certain forest practices and the effect
they have on tree and stand development.
Two major historical factors have done much to shape
the character of our Inland West forests for much of the
past century-fire exclusion that favored the establishment of mostly shade-tolerant species such as interior
Douglas-fir, subalpine fir, grand fir, and white fir; and
economic selection cutting practices that removed the
more valuable seral species, left the low-value shadetolerant species, and did not create suitable seedbed conditions for seral species to regenerate (Schmidt and others
1983). Both practices disrupted natural succession processes and accelerated the march toward climax-forests
dominated by shade-tolerant species. This shift in species
composition toward more shade-tolerant species, the resulting continuous lateral and vertical stand structure,
and increased stand density have brought about the something ''blue''-the increased insect and disease component
of the forest. Many insects and diseases are well adapted
to the environment of the Inland West, and the fire exclusion and improper partial-cutting practices further enhanced their habitat. The most significant insects and
diseases of the Inland West are western spruce budworm,
tussock moth, bark beetles, dwarfmistletoe, and root diseases. All of these are strongly related to the stand conditions just described (Brookes and others 1978; Brookes
and others 1985; Carlson and others 1985; Sanders and
others 1985; Carlson and Wulf 1989; Byler and others
1990; Shaw and Kile 1991).
When we examine insect and disease requirements,
some associations and commonalities become apparent.
For example, these insect and disease problems:
• Usually occur in mid-to-Iate stages of succession.
• Are mostly host specific on a given habitat.
• Occur mostly on host species that are climax or on
seral species late in succession.
• Are generally more common in older trees and
stands.
• Are often associated with tree injuries.
• Generally prefer slower growing, less vigorous trees.
• Generally prefer dense stands of low-vigor trees.
• Generally prefer stand structures with continuous
lateral and vertical crown distribution.
Although there are exceptions, particularly with the
beetles, there are enough commonalities that we have to
address them in the whole context of management and
research. Introduced insects and diseases such as blister
rust and larch casebearer behave in a different manner.
This raises a big question-how do we relate insects
and diseases to forest practices being proposed under New
Perspectives? We do not know what all these practices
are going to be, but we can be assured there will be a wide
15
variety of forest practices aimed at meeting the forestry
challenges of New Perspectives in the 1990's and beyond.
These challenges will include the whole gamut oftraditional resource objectives and items such as biodiversity,
sustainability and productivity, rare and endangered species, and landscape scale practices.
Addressing all of these objectives will require a myriad
of silvicultural practices. In addition, there are ecological
habitat differences, geographical and topographical differences, prior management practices differences, and the
like that have to be considered in the management decisions. We need to ask questions about proposed forest
practices in ecosystems where fire has traditionally
played an important role. In light of these factors, we
need to ask if the proposed forest practice:
emphases, such as sustainability, biodiversity, landscape
scale methods, endangered species, and the like, are not,
as yet, well understood in relation to fire. Furthermore,
the use of fire as a management tool is threatened as public opposition increases against smoke and visibility problems associated with fire.
DEFINING ROLES OF NEW
PERSPECTIVES AND RESEARCH
The marriage of Research to New Perspectives is only
beginning to take shape, but it appears that there already
is common ground to get things off on the right foot within
the charter of the National Research Program of the Forest Service. Researchers have been asking what their responsibilities are in New Perspectives. With the mandate
that management activities must be based on the best scientific information, the research role becomes more clear.
To help get the ResearchlNew Perspectives efforts under way in the Inland Mountain West, the Intermountain
Research Station has established a New Perspectives
Planning Team composed of research representatives
from most of the disciplines and laboratories in the Station and of National Forest System representatives from
the Intermountain and Northern Regions. The team's
primary responsibility is to define the role of research in
New Perspectives in the Inland West. Although far from
completing its assignment, the New Perspectives Planning Team has developed some preliminary suggestions
and has proposed the following research responsibilities:
1. Substantially increases the proportion of shadetolerant host species.
2. Decreases the probability of seral species
establishment.
3. Forms continuous lateral and vertical stand structures of host-tree species.
4. Increases the number of injured and low-vigor trees.
5. Increases intertree competition.
6. Excludes the use offire.
7. Can be done in areas of past and present infestations
and infections.
If the answers are mostly "no," you can breathe a little
easier. If the answers are mostly "yes," you can likely
expect insect and disease problems, and you will have to
determine if you can live with the insect and disease problems associated with that forestry practice. We should
learn from the past, because too often we concocted practices to meet some immediate objectives but created longterm problems with insects and diseases. Hopefully we
can avoid making the same mistakes.
We need a better understanding of the long-term roles
and functions of insects and diseases in natural ecosystems and how insects and diseases respond to natural and
artificial perturbations. We also need to be able to better
identify conditions that portend serious damage, and then
we need to develop treatments that can be used to achieve
and maintain forest health.
But let's change direction a bit. We have been conditioned to equate most insects and diseases with things
that are bad because they generally reduce timber or esthetic values. However, we also know that some of the
changes in stand conditions prompted by insects and diseases can have positive effects for other resources by creating snags, opening up the stands, increasing light and
temperature on the forest floor, and changing other site
and stand conditions. This can create better habitat for
perching and nesting birds, more browse for better wildlife habitat for ungulates, more stream flow, and, in some
cases, increase the decay processes that can enhance longterm soil productivity.
The role offire is extremely important in Inland Empire
forests (Wellner 1970; Lotan and others 1981). Its relationship to natural succession of trees and associated vegetation, and, in turn, the relationship of the tree and stand
complex to insects and disease, is gradually becoming better understood. However, many of the New Perspectives
• Provide scientifically based information for management under New Perspectives.
• Develop partnerships with the academic, scientific,
management, and public communities to develop and prioritize research programs.
• Determine what knowledge is needed to more fully
implement New Perspectives.
• Develop new research programs to narrow knowledge
gaps.
An important facet of New Perspectives is technology
transfer of scientific information both within and outside
forest management agencies. Publications, workshops,
symposia, and consultations all playa key role here.
Also, demonstration areas can be one of the most effective
methods of transferring much-needed information. In
light of that, the New Perspectives Team of the Intermountain Research Station proposes a series of demonstration areas representative of the vegetative strata of
the Inland West from the desert floor to the alpine. All
are selected on the basis of their being suitable for demonstrating some of the principles espoused under New Perspectives. Most demonstration areas are selected because
they already have pertinent information or are in the immediate stages of research planning and implementation.
Some of the proposed desirable criteria for selecting New
Perspectives demonstration areas are:
• Be representative of a major ecosystem.
• Have both natural and manipulated conditions.
• Have documented history with pretreatment
information.
16
• Have a broad base of integrative multiresource
information.
• Have basic biological and physical site and productivity data.
• Have a long-term data base of ecological process and
climate information.
• Be adaptable to Geographic Information Systems
(GIS).
• Be cognizant of demographic differences.
• Be easily accessible for demonstrations.
• Be translatable for managerial use.
1985. Proceedings-symposium on lodgepole pine: the
species and its management; May 8-10, 1984 Spokane,
WA, U.S. and May 14-16, 1984 Vancouver, BC. Canada.
Washington State University, Pullman. 381 p.
Baumgartner, David M. and James E. Lotan, compilers.
1988. Proceedings-symposium on ponderosa pine:
the species and its management; 1987 Sept. 29-0ct. 1;
Spokane, WA: U.s., Washington State University,
Pullman. 281 p.
Boe, Kenneth N. 1953. Western larch and Douglas-fir
seed dispersal into clearcuttings. USDA Forest Service
Northern Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experi- '
ment Station, Res. Note 129. 3 p.
Brookes, Martha H., J.J. Colbert, Russel G. Mitchell, and
R.W. Stark, technical coordinators. 1985. Managing
trees and stands susceptible to western spruce budworm. USDA Forest Service, CANUSA Progam, Tech.
Bull. 1695. Washington, DC. 111 p.
Brookes, Martha H., R.W. Stark, and Robert W.
Campbell, editors. 1978. The Douglas-fir tussock moth:
a synthesis. USDA Forest Service, Douglas-fir tussock
moth research and development program. Tech. Bull.
1585. Washington, DC. 331 p.
Byler, J.W., M.A. Marsden, and S.K. Hagle. 1990. The
probability of root disease on the Lolo National Forest
Montana. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 20: '
987-994.
Carlson, Clinton E., Wyman C. Schmidt, David G. Fellin,
and William N. Wulf. 1985. Silvicultural approaches to
western spruce budworm management in the Northern
U.S. Rocky Mountains. In: Sanders, C.J., R.W. Stark,
E.J. Mullens and J. Murphy, editors. Recent advances
in spruce budworm research. Proceedings-CANUSA
Spruce Budworm Symposium; 1984 September 16-20;
Bangor, ME. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Forestry Service:
281-297.
Carlson, Clinton E., and N. William Wulf. 1989. Silvicultural strategies to reduce stand and forest susceptibility
to the western spruce budworm. USDA Forest Service/
Cooperative State Research Service. Ag. Handb. 676.
Washington, DC. 31 p.
Cummings, L.J. 1937. Larch-Douglas-fir board-foot yield
tables. USDA Forest Service, Northern Rocky Mountain
Forest and Range Experiment Station. Applied Forestry
Note 78. 5 p.
Gruell, George E., Wyman C. Schmidt, Stephen F. Arno,
and William J. Reich. 1982. Seventy years of vegetal
change in managed ponderosa pine forest in western
Montana-implications for resource management.
USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range
Experiment Station. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-130. 42 p.
Haig, Irvine T. 1936. Factors controlling initial establishment of western white pine and associated species. Yale
University School of Forestry, Bull. 41. 149 p.
Larsen, J.A. 1924. Some factors affecting reproduction
after logging in northern Idaho. Journal of Agricultural
Research. 28: 1149-1157.
Lotan, James E. [and others]. 1981. Effects offire on flora:
a state of knowledge review. U.S. Forest Service National Fire Effects Workshop, Denver, CO. April 10-14,
1978. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-16.
Washington, DC. 71 p.
Our New Perspectives Team is proposing that the tremendous variations in life zones that stretch from the alpine to the desert of the Inland West be characterized by
the following major vegetation strata:
AlpinelUpper Subalpine
Subalpine
Lodgepole Pine
Grand firlWhite fir
CedarlHemlock
Douglas-fir
Ponderosa Pine
PinyonlJ uniper
Mountain Brushland
Sage Steppe
Salt-Desert Shrublands
Riparian
Demonstration areas felt to be representative of most of
these vegetative strata have been proposed. Most are Experimental Forests and Ranges that have a long history of
research. Nearly all of them demonstrate some principles
of New Perspectives, but it is not likely that anyone of
them will demonstrate all facets.
The marriage of New Perspectives and Research brings
to light the importance of the whole gamut of research:
research that has long been forgotten by many; research
that did not seem to be in the mainstream at the time and
has lain on the shelf; long-term data that have never been
published because of other high priorities; basic data that
need to be re-examined to determine if they may have
utility for reasons other than the original objectives; integration of data from various disciplines; and creation of
models to increase the utility of research data.
We have a lot to learn as we attempt this balancing act
of New Perspectives and Research. More important, New
Perspectives is currently being implemented on an operational scale on National Forest lands in response to new
policies. Therefore, it is important that the Research community be integrally involved in New Perspectives planning so that pertinent ecosystem information is fully considered. We hope the offspring from this union of New
Perspectives and Research, whether it be in developing
new studies, demonstration areas, or participation in the
planning process, will be greater collaboration, sustainablility, integration, and participation.
REFERENCES
Baumgartner, David M., Richard G. Krebill, James T.
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Meyer, Walter H. 1938. Yield of even-aged stands ofponderosa pine. USDA Tech. Bull. 630. Washington, DC.
59p.
Myers, Clifford A. 1974. Multipurpose silviculture in the
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